Team Seven : children of war
by scribblequote
Summary: In which three children aren't quite what they're supposed to be. Sakura is fighting her inner demon, Naruto is an akasenko and Sasuke is going against his clan. "Sometimes I question my sanity. Sometimes it replies back." :: no massacre, family team seven, au ::
1. chapter 1

In which three children aren't quite what they're supposed to be. Sakura is fighting her inner demon, Naruto is an akasenko and Sasuke is going against his clan.

"Sometimes I question my sanity. Sometimes it replies back."

: no massacre, family team seven, au :

He raised an eyebrow at the same time as a warm smile made itself known on his face. "You do know you are under no obligation to stay here Sakura-chan?" This was a daily occurrence, him asking her this question five minutes after school would end. This was also around the first time Iruka began to take an interest in the behaviour of this one particular student.

The eight year old in question shrugged her shoulders and continued helping him out. She held six hefty text books in her arms while Iruka held double that. They crossed the classroom before dumping the books into the press at the back. Sakura then proceeded to push in all the chairs into their desk while her sensei made his way to his desk to continue with his corrections.

Iruka often wondered as to why she did this. She had started this since last year. Staying back after school that is. Sometimes for fifteen other times for twenty minutes. He wasn't complaining though. She helped organise shelves and books without being asked, brought some order to the class and chatted idly with him from time to time. Her behaviour did baffle him though since kids her age celebrated every time the bell signalled the ending of a school day and would run outside.

"Um, sensei?"

He looked up to see Sakura standing in front of his desk, eyebrows scrutinizing the paper in front of her. It was one of the tests he had just corrected.

"Shinobi can't see chakra because of the, um, restrictions of the main eight tenketsu, right?" Her words were hesitant as she looked up.

Iruka contemplated her words before nodding his head. "Yes, you're right."

"I... I think you corrected this wrong then sensei."

Tilting his head to the side, Iruka took the paper his student was offering and looked at where she was pointing. He grinned sheepishly. "Ah, looks like I did." He took up his pen and immediately began correcting his mistake. He chuckled in a bashful manner as he noticed that he'd made a little mess on his student's work. "How were you able to read my handwriting though Sakura?" It was chicken scratch in the eyes of everyone including himself. He often had students and colleagues alike complained to him when they couldn't read what he wrote.

"My sister's a doctor sensei. You both have the same handwriting," she admitted while looking down.

He chuckled before looking up at the clock. "Looks like it's time Sakura-chan." She looked up at the time as well and then went to collect her school bag. He waved back at her as she left his class.

Rin tried to glare her hardest at her teammate as he lounged on her sofa as though he owned the place. The keyword being tried. A glaring Rin was the equivalent to a rabbit trying to intimidate a lion. The success rate of this was zero and Kakashi rubbed that in her face with a smug grin under his mask he knew she couldn't perceive.

In a way, him acting so carefree—lounging in her furniture, shoes and Jonin vest disregarded

carelessly in a corner, hair mused with one arm draped across his face and his whole posture screaming peaceful—not like the usual rigid and cold ANBU he had to act as was cute. And rare. This moment should be etched in time... If Obito were here, she would have forced him to record this moment on his Sharingan. Moments like these were so scarce that her glare quickly melted off as she scurried to a corner to pick up his disregarded

clothes and continued silently by folding them away neatly.

"Kakashi, you really should quit sulking," she reprimanded him lightly, not having the heart to

fully scold him. He mumbled some incoherent words and proceeded by turning his back to her as he brooded.

She sighed and walked up to him before dropping a book on his head with a loud whack. "My hand slipped." Kakashi made a choking noise of disbelief at the back of his throat. Even Obito's excuses weren't as trashy as hers.

"Listen Kakashi," she began as he flicked through the contents of the book, skimming the words mindlessly. "I know something must've happened with the Hokage. I know, I know, something classified probably. But you need to lighten up!" Did she just give him porn? He had half a mind to

chuck this abomination of literature back at her. "So we'll start with this; today, I want you to

walk up to the first person you see and say the first nice thing about them."

"And then run away?"

"And then run away." She nodded wisely. "While laughing like a maniac."

Kakashi scowled at her and let the book drop to the floor.

"I can't believe I became your personal medic Bakashi." Kakashi didn't bother correcting her

that she was his self proclaimed personal medic. She then sighed dramatically before picking up the book on the floor. "Instead of this, I should just throw rocks at people for a living, you know."

Kakashi mumbled a "go away". He had just returned from a vigorous training session (since he had destroyed half of a training ground the earth users still haven't been able to level out the training ground with their earth style as they were constantly shocked by the residue of Kakashi's lightning) and was slightly injured. Rin, of course, had marched at him the second she smelt him entering the building and dragged him into her apartment. And so, Kakashi was found sulking on top of her sofa as she knelt beside him and healed his injuries.

"I'm pulling a twenty-two hour shift starting from tonight." So you know where I am. I'll be

safe there.

"Hm... The building's a mess." You rarely spend time here now a days.

"Yeah...I'll get to it when I can." I spend every free moment with you.

"... Get some rest." Don't over exert yourself.

"By the way, can you tell Genma to back off, please?" This time there was no hidden message behind her words as Kakashi narrowed his eyes at a spot on the wall above her left shoulder.

"Hold my Chidori," he whispered under his breath.

Kakashi may have been an epic joke at times, but he could also be so bland she didn't have

it in her to hate him.

And sometimes, when his walls were down, when he isn't using that stupid way of talking of

his with the hints and implied answers, when he isn't punishing himself and his body isn't

weighed down by his sins, when he isn't looking at her and seeing how he failed his sensei and teammate and it's only the two of them, Rin can't help but fall deeper for him. Even if it was one side. Maybe this wasn't love—there will be no happily ever after nor will there be a Prince Charming. There will be bonds and there will be a warrior amidst a battlefield saving her teammate's life—but this was enough. She was still learning to accept his broken pieces because unlike so many which had given up, she was willing to pick up the

glass—even if it cut her and she bled—she was going to slowly, gradually put him back

together.

A small trickle of nervous and weak chakra was suddenly noticed by the both of them. It also didn't belong to any of the five residents of this apartment block. Rin would have been on alert, if the chakra did not feel like an academy student's. She rose from her place while Kakashi stayed there, his spidery limbs strewn across her couch.

Opening her door Rin began making her way to the floor above her, where she felt the simple chakra flair heading towards. She stopped when she remembered that the one living above her was Iruka, an academy sensei. Everything made sense to her. She briskly walked back to retrieve a plate of dango she had made earlier on in the day to give to Iruka all the while wondering why he would invite a young student to a dangerous Shinobi area such as this one.

With his hair down and a coffee in hand, the last thing Iruka had anticipated was this. Outside of his apartment stood little Sakura Haruno, shivering slightly as the evening breeze blew by. She wore shapeless boy clothes; a brown cap, knee length shorts and a grey jumper a size too big for her. He noted the red on her cheeks, elbows and knees from the cold. In her hand she clutched A Beginner's Guide to Kinasthetic Genjutsu.

"I'm sorry, I was promised to give this to you today but forgot", she said hurriedly, her face conveying embarrassment.

Iruka frowned as he took the book he had lent to her a week ago. "You do know it's okay Sakura," he told her gently, "you could've always given it to me tomorrow."

She mumbled under breath but still nodded in understatement.

At that moment a certain woman decided to make her appearance known. In Sakura's eyes she was beautiful with a thick purple line painted on each cheek, creased smiling vibrant hazel eyes and shoulder length brown hair.

"Good afternoon, sensei!" She announced in a chipper voice. In her hands was a covered plate which Iruka strongly believed had dango in it.

"Afternoon Rin." He looked down at Sakura as he talked. "This is my neighbour, Sakura." The brown haired man then looked up. "Rin this is Sakura, a student of mine."

The lady, now identified as Rin to Sakura smiled down at her before reaching under the covers of the plate and showing off one of Sakura's favourite desserts.

"Dango?"

Sakura shortly left the two grown ups with a wave and a promise to be in school tomorrow.

Rin looked at Iruka, her face posing a question. "Since when do you give your address to your students, sensei?" she asked out of curiosity.

Iruka's eyes widened in realization. "I... I don't."

And this was the second time Sakura Haruno had garnered his attention.

AN:

Sasuke takes the spotlight in the next chapter!!


	2. chapter 2

**It's come to my attention that when I publish my chapters they become misaligned. I've no idea why as when I publish them they're fine. So I apologise in advance if there's anything wrong with this chapter and will try to fix it as soon as I can.**

:

Making his way home, Sasuke could only frown. It was autumn and the days here in Konoha were beginning to shorten. Why hadn't his mom come to collect him today? Had something happened? He expected behaviour such as 'forgetting to collect your child' from his dad, but certainly not from his mom. She gave all her attention to Sasuke to level things out with the lack of attention he was receiving from his dad. Sasuke appreciated his mother doing so. She was truly a kind soul.

Opening up the gates to the compound, something eerie greeted him in return. A chill ran up his spine, covering his arms with goosebumps. He was sure the cold feeling wasn't coming from the afternoon breeze. Sasuke was finding it hard to make sense of his emotions. For one thing, why was everything so quiet? He continued his trek home, shaking the hair that had fallen into his eyes.

That was when he saw the first dead body and promptly doubled over as he emptied the contents of his stomach onto the pavement. He stood there in that position for quite some time, back hunched, knees bent in, his breathing laboured. It took him some more minutes before he could find some semblance of control in him and straighten up. He began running home.

As he ran down the compound and towards his house he jumped and skidded, avoiding the pools of red and bodies which seemed to be spread out here and there. Some groceries from shopping bags had spilt out onto the paths. In the air hung a heavy musty metallic scent that had the little Uchiha feeling nauseous again.

When he reached his house he crashed into the door and stumbled in.

"Mom?!" he cried out breathlessly, hating how weak his voice sounded. His eyes moistened and quickly scanned the entrance.

One of the clansmen entered the hall upon his arrival. He stood in front of the door to the living room as though blocking it with his slim frame. "Sasuke please stand here while your father deals with..."

"Get out of my way!", he screamed before pushing off the man and running into the living room, the place where noise was coming from.

He threw the door open only to find his big brother tied up and his father pointing a sword at Itachi's neck.

 ** _:_**

Sasuke was a very quiet eight year old. He was so quiet that his dotting mother was constantly worrying about his condition. If only she could see that his silent nature was something that he was comfortable with. That and the fact that he did not see the need in making friends with people that he didn't enjoy the company of.

Walking out of the Academy and onto Konoha's numerous paths, Sasuke began making his way to the compound. He lived in the Uchiha district which was a long way from the academy considering that it was situated on the outskirts of the village.

"Hey!"

He stopped in his tracks and looked up. His dark eyes blinked slowly at the boy in front of him. It was the class clown; Naruto. He had mixed feelings regarding his classmate. While his father did warn him of staying away from the blonde, Sasuke never did find a reason in the past three academic years of them being together to dislike him. Except maybe his loudness at times.

"Wanna paint?!" Naruto asked. His eyes creased at the side when he smiled and Sasuke noticed him rocking on the balls of his feet.

He shook his head.

Naruto's response was almost immediate. He frowned while asking why.

This simple question took Sasuke by surprise. It made him realize that he did not have a reason for denying Naruto's request. He also didn't hate his presence and it wasn't as though his father had directly forbade him from interacting with the boy. And wouldn't him socializing make his mother happy?

"Okay then," he said with a shrug. A bit of doubt still lingered in his mind.

The blinding smile that Naruto showed him was enough to banish any doubt he previously had in him.

:

Later that day when Sasuke arrived home, hands, clothes and face dotted in paint he was met at the steps of the house by his fretting mother who was wringing her dress between her fingers. It occurred to him then that it was indeed evening time and he was fashionably late.

"Sasuke!" She gasped when he came near her. She had just noticed the paint flecked all over him, he guessed. She ushered him inside and beckoned her son into the kitchen, giving him no time to kick off his shoes.

Sasuke passed his father--who was reading a scroll and sitting on a mat in the sitting room--while following his mother into the kitchen. His father didn't acknowledge his presence and so once again, just like so many times before, Sasuke tried to push down the disappointment he felt.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes projecting so much worry that he felt guilty. He stood at the entrance of the kitchen which she wet a towel in warm water.

"I was...playing," he answered truthfully. But in this household, saying this out loud within his father's hearing range made him feel ashamed. It was unbecoming of him as the son of the clanhead to be...playing.

At his words, the Uchiha matriarch stopped her actions which were washing the paint of her son's face. "With your friends?" She asked carefully.

Sasuke nodded while he put a his hand over hers in a comforting manner.

They both pretended they didn't see her flinch.

:

"Y-you know, I don't think that's a good idea", whispered a very concerned Sasuke.

"Nonsense!" Naruto said, secretly proud as he used that big word he heard his academy teacher use. Ha, Iruka would be so proud of him. "I'll be okay!"

"So, um, what are you gonna do?", Sasuke asked, not entirely convinced of this idea. He twirled a piece of his dark tinted hair between two of his fingers. It was getting longer than how he usually had it.

Naruto looked at his new 'bestest friend' right in the eye. His ocean blue eyes captivating the other as Sasuke saw just how uncharacteristically serious his face looked.

"I'm gonna fall off a cliff".

The Uchiha heir blinked before nodding his head. Naruto continued on.

"Then, a really awesome power is gonna come out of me", he explained further as he watched Sasuke's white complexion pale even further.

"See, Nana once...", he tugged at his over sized faded yellow shirt before tucking it into his pants "...her sensei once peaked into the woman's bathhouse, an' then...", he tucked the ends of his pants into his socks "...an' then she got really really angry an' BAM. She got wings an' all".

Sasuke blinked, he seemed to be doing this a lot the more he exposed himself to this kid's company. "...wings...".

"Uhuh", he nodded his head before peering down the mountain which had the Hokage's faces carved into it. It was a long drop. The highest point in the whole village as well.

"You sure it's okay?", even Sasuke's eight year old mind could decipher that this was indeed a bad idea.

"Nah, nah", he waved off his concern with his hand, as though swatting away a fly. "I'm just gonna fall off this, and then get some kickass wings!".

Sasuke winced at the bad words. His father didn't tolerate the use of bad language. The three senbon punctures on Shisui's left arm could attest to this.

Before Sasuke could talk his friend out of his madness, Naruto was already running. Taking a deep breath he launched off the mountain side, but not before screaming out his last words. He blamed his weird pitch on Nana.

The second Naruto jumped off the mounting with, in his opinion was a manly war cry, not a girly scream, Sasuke made his way down the built in stairs on the mountain side. Handy those.

If memory served right, which it definitely did seeing as he had a photographic memory no lie, Naruto should have fallen onto either the Sarutobi compound, or if the wind had been especially strong, then the Uchiha's compound.

Sakura prayed for the latter. His father did warn him once upon a time to not associate with the likes of Naruto Uzumaki. Suddenly Sasuke stopped and stared at what had to be either the most craziest or the most beautiful thing his eyes have ever seen. As Naruto's body sailed off the Hokage's monument, Sasuke watched as it burst into fiery--was that red or orange? No, that was most likely a mixture between those two colours--chains. Even from here he could see that they were thick and made from presumably metal, with that bold colour covering them. The chains themselves were unnaturally long as they twisted and shot out grabbing on and latching themselves onto their surrounds.

Yet the screaming being was still able fall onto the ground. Into his compound.

:

Standing in front of the Uchiha's compound was a conflicted Sasuke. Should he go in...or not? From one side he was sure that while his father did not particularly like Naruto he would still let him leave without Sasuke himself having to step in and make his friendship known. On the other hand, this was his father so...

Stepping in, he noticed how there wasn't anyone around. He wondered why and purposely pushed out the violent thoughts that entered his mind. Thoughts of bloodied corpses laid out on the streets.

"Get your hands off me, Weed Smokers!"

Well of course it was because of Naruto.

Setting off at a nice easy jogging pace, he manoeuvred himself around the place. Looking up at the Hokage mountain then back down, he did some quick maths combined with geography. At the end, if his calculations were correct, Naruto should have landed just about...

"What do you think you're doing here, brat?!"

...there!

When he arrived at the scene, Sasuke stopped in his tracks, frozen in awe, staring at Naruto, or more accurately at what was happening around him. The chains which he had earlier on seen exploding from his body were now getting somehow 'sucked back into his back' for the lack of a better explanation. He began walking up to the blonde, pushing his way through the mob of Uchiha once it was clear that the chains were completely gone.

Two Uchiha had hosted him up, one on each side, grabbing Naruto's arms firmly.

Another Uchiha wearing the police force's symbol on his Jonin vest--Uchiha Fugaku, his father--made his way to the Naruto.

Sasuke ran up to him, and pulled at his clothes gently to gather his attention. It was the silent communication that took place between them in the spam of ten seconds that made Sasuke understand that just like many of the things he has done previously, he had once again dissatisfied his father. He thought that he had already gotten used to the sinking feeling he was constantly subjected to. Apparently not.


	3. chapter 3

"Demon!!", screamed the caretaker as she pointed a trembling finger at a boy, alerting every single soul in the orphanage.

The door was burst open. "Hitoshi what's wrong?!", snapped an auburn haired, seventy year old woman.

"He did it again", she hissed as she leaped across the room, towards the door and away from the eight year old blonde. "Red, all over!", the woman was close to tears as she wailed to the mother of the orphanage. Naruto on the other hand stood in the corner, eyes downcast. A twinge of shame stabbed at is heart. He hadn't meant to...

Sho Chinen had been running this orphanage ever since she was twenty six years old. The woman had lived through both the second and the third Shinobi World War, where her orphanage was used to house all sorts of people. She was a strict mother who didn't take any nonsense. She may not have been known for her kindness but she was fair. Therefore now, she had to deal with this nuisance of a woman.

"Hitoshi, get a grip, I've already informed you he often does that".

"He was playing with red chakra", the woman screeched as she frantically thugged at her clothes.

"That's exactly what I told you yesterday, the day you decided to work here", explained the mother as patiently as she could.

"But...but...he..!", Hitoshi sputtered.

"Enough, you will either tend to the boy and tuck him in bed, or you will go and help out the girls in the kitchen".

"He's a demon".

"He's a boy. One more word and I'll have you out on the street. You are a grown woman, now start acting like it", barked Sho.

The brown haired woman flipped her hair and stormed out of the room, refusing to apologize to...to such a monster, she made her way downstairs nonetheless.

The second the young woman was out of sight, Sho's shoulders sagged in relief, at least this one didn't try and throw a kunia at the boy like the last caretaker.

"Boy, it's bed time. Lock away your pet, you can play with him tomorrow", snapped the elder before closing the door.

" 'kay", yawned the sleepy boy, rubbing his eyes. The red chakra which was cloaked around him began to subside and disappear into the black marks imprinted on his belly. Before the last tendrils of chakra could disappear, he grabbed onto it, ignoring the pain as his skin burned.

"...stay", he whispered in his high pitched voice. He stood there for a few more seconds, to make sure it stayed with him, before letting go of it.

Naruto was feeling better now. What little bit of shame he had felt was no longer there. 'It isn't my fault,' he kept repeating to himself, forcing his mind to be happier. Old lady Sho always says it herself. He nodded his head as his breathing became normal and he was feeling okay once more. The only reason he had cowered was because he hadn't prepared himself for the worst when she arrived as he had been told by everyone in the Home that the newcomer was actually nice.

The boy hobbled up to his bed and pulled himself up, that last tendril of chakra grabbing onto the blankets, helping him to hoist his scrawny figure up. He got under his covers and ignored it all. The terrifying howls which came from outside, the gnarled branches as they bet mercilessly against the window, the happy cheers which floated from the other rooms, the sickly smell of mold on the walls, the dull gray wallpaper.

He ignored it all.

After all he still had his 'pet' as everyone here called it. Even if touching it hurt him, even if it always shouted how much it hated him and even if everyone seemed to hate both him and his pet.

"Uzumaki-san, I need your attention here please", the perplexed man said, snapping his fingers in front of the dreamy blonde to get his attention.

"Wha' diyya say?", dawdled Naruto, snapping out of his thoughts. He looked up at the man. A Yamanaka. Also a shrink.

"Look Uzumaki-san every student needs to run this physiological tests, it's for-"

Naruto slammed his hand on the table a silly teasing grin on his face.

"I don't do mind games Yamanaka. Piss me off and I'll let fox boy here tear apart this whole dump", he told the man arrogantly.

"Uzumaki-san this is exactly why we need to run these tests-"

"Mind games", he hissed "all of 'em".

The man kept going on, already used to the boy's taunts "we need to make sure the fox isn't tempering with both your emotional state of mind as well as your inner self-"

"Bullshit. The fox doesn't control me. I control the fox".

Now for the sass.

Getting up from his place on the chair, the chair fell over at the sudden movement. He made his way to the door which he threw open.

Changing his facial feature from the murderous angry one from before he greeted the next person in line outside with a goofy grin, closed eyes, sunny aura and all.

"You're up next, princess",he chirped.

He was immediately greeted with a fist to the face.

"Don't you dare call me a princess, jackass".

Ah, Sakura Haruno. The academy's number one student. Also, the one person Naruto was quite sure led the most craziest lifestyle aside from him in this school. On top of that she was one of the few who treated him indifferently. She was mean to him simply because of his outrageous and trying actions.

Not because of what lived inside of him.

Not because of his parentage.

"What are you looking at, bitch?!", she hissed at a dark haired girl who she'd caught ogling at her. Ever the teacher's pet. Low enough so that the sensei couldn't hear her and high enough that it had the no name girl scurrying away from her and to the back of the line.

In other words she treated him equally. Just like she treated everyone else.

Picking himself up Naruto began to make his way downstairs towards the entrance of the academy. He along with the rest of his classmates, had been strictly told to go back to class once he had finished with his check up. But Naruto decided that he had had enough school for a day. Looking back Naruto wondered if maybe what he had done back at the office was a little too much. Truthfully, he wasn't angry at the Yamanaka, not at all. But when it came to letting people into your mind and heart, even if by a little bit, Naruto had found out from a young for that to be disastrous. Acting stupid and happy got him out of so much trouble, even if he hated putting up this front.

Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke actually did ditch classes. No one was perfect. Especially not Sasuke.

Today was the day of their annual mental and health check up. Something he absolutely detested with a passion. He hated people messing around his head. He hated being asked those suspicious questions. He hated those mind games. Rookie of the year or not, he hated puzzles in general. He liked facts and anything that was logical and kept him anchored to reality.

The Uchiha was currently hiding in the boys bathroom. Ten more minutes and the examinations for the day should finish. Sasuke rubbed his sleep deprived eyes and stifled a yawn. He looked up at one of the many mirrors which hung on the wall. He winced at his reflection.

While rubbing his eyes, he had removed the concealer and now the black smudges under his eyes stood out on his pale complexion.

Digging into his pockets he fished out the small plastic box he had stolen from his mother's vanity table. Opening it up, he carefully reapplied it to hide the bags under his eyes.

Stupid nightmares.

Stupid big brother.

"Detention. ALL OF YOU", roared Iruka as he looked down at three of his students inside of the office.

Yes three.

So what happened was that when Naruto was just about to step out of the school building and go home he had bumped right into Sakura. Somehow their collision had caused them to have a heart to heart fight; biting, hair pulling, scratching and hissing. And so as they rolled around Sasuke had come down with the same intention as the other two; to escape home early. Unfortunately, Naruto had blindingly reached out for something to get Sakura's foot out of his mouth and instead had pulled Sasuke's pants which led him to topple over and knee Sakura in the ribs. Through out their scuffle all Sasuke did was defend himself, Naruto continued throwing his body at them and Sakura kept pulling anything she got her hands on. They had gotten verbal at some point and that was when Iruka sensei heard them, found them, and forcefully pulled them apart.

Now standing in their sensei's office, Naruto stood beside them, wincing as he smiled that face splitting smile, bruises all over. Sasuke was doing his best to impersonate a wall and wondering why he didn't feel bad for hitting a girl. Sakura on the other hand had tears streaming down her face and looked ashamed and guilty while Iruka reprimanded them. But Naruto knew what a real devil she was and Sasuke was starting to think that someone who could hit that hard was definitely not innocent.

Later on as they left the school, detention slips in hand, a strange warm and giddy feeling filled the three children.

She really, really didn't want to do this. Not that she was mad at him or anything, it was just that she didn't want nor did she feel like talking to her husband. Sadly, she had to.

"Fugaku".

"Hm?" On the inside she felt bitter about his response, but on the outside, she had a plain facade. She felt a sick sense of glee on the inside. Wait until he hears what his son did.

"Sasuke recieved detention today".

Fugaku, as camly as he could, rolled up the scroll he was reading and turned to face his wife. Her face showed nothing of what she felt towards the news she had just delivered to him.

Sasuke. Detention. Never in his life has he ever heard of a sentence with those two words together. They didn't go together.

"Sasuke what happened?", barked Fugaku as his son emerged front the kitchen, a bowl full of ripe cherry tomatoes in hand.

"I decked Sakura on the jaw". Sasuke popped a single cold cherry tomato into his mouth and went to stand beside his mother.

Shisui, who had previously been sitting upside down on the couch, oggled openly at Sasuke. He quickly turned the right way over wondering if what he had heard been true or did the blood finally get to his brain.

Frankly, Sasuke was past caring about what happened today. "We had a fight that I was pulled in. It was a threesome".

"You hit a girl? ", asked Shisui quietly while walking slowly towards sasuke. Because this couldn't be real. This was Sasuke, for God's sake.

"She asked for it", no literally.

Shisui stared off dumbfounded. Was this one someone's twisted genjutsu? Walking up the stairs, Shisui put his hands into the ram seal. "Kai".

Fugaku stared off into space for a few minutes. Too fazed, trying to get his thoughts on the same page.

Mikoto's chest swelled with pride. She turned around, intending on finishing that pile of dishes. Only then did she let her face break out into a giddy smile. Her son's first ever detention.

A/N

the red chakra or 'Red' as Naruto calls him is indeed the Kyubi. First of, they are not friends, Kay? I've altered some things around. I think that the Uzumaki clan did not get enough credit in the anime. I mean come on, those people are able to seal such huge motherfucking monsters into others, shoot chains which suck out chakra and immobilize beasts.


	4. chapter4

Sakura, in Sasuke's humble opinion, is a walking contradiction.

It has been two months since the detention incident and Sasuke had found himself confused the more time he spent around her during school hours. He couldn't really put his fingers on it. But he knew that it was something in the way she acted. At first, he thought that she was what Shisui called 'fake', people who put up fronts and pretence. People who are two faced and can't be trusted. But as the days passed, Sasuke came to realise that this was her. All of these personalities that she seemed to hold was just a part of her.

Sasuke nodded his head, he was satisfied with his find. So with this explanation in mind he looked down from where he was sitting and noticed that Iruka sensei was using Sakura to demonstrate something.

"That's right Ino-chan. In that case, I'll cast a simple Genjutsu on Sakura here to demonstrate what you said." Turning to his pink haired student Iruka continued talking. "The Genjutsu I will put you under should render you sense of hearing. I'll keep it on for twelve seconds before dispelling it." He turned towards his students. "Class, when I say so, I want you to be the loudest you can, okay?" Iruka then turned to Sakura. "Your job will be to tell the whole class if you heard anything, all right?"

Sakura nodded and mentally prepared herself while her sensei went through the required hand signs.

Sasuke leaned into his table in anticipation, as did many of his classmates. Even Naruto who had previously been trying to cut Ino's hair with a pair of scissors without her noticing was looking to see what was about to happen. Sasuke watched on as Iruka placed his hands over Sakura's ears before releasing her.

Iruka clapped his hands in enthusiasm to garner their attention and faced the crowd. "Now on the count of three I want--"

"Um, sensei? I can still hear you." Iruka's eyes widened comically at what Sakura said. He faced her quickly and redid the seals. He put his hands over her ears before pulling away with a quizzical look on his face. Slowly turned to face his students.

"Okay so--"

"Sensei I can still hear."

Iruka now had a perplexed look on his face. He was sure everything he had done was right. A theory began to form in his mind. He might be wrong but he might be right. He walked over to Ino--leaving a puzzled Sakura by his desk--and asked her permission to carry out the Genjutsu on her. When she agreed, Iruka casted it on her before beginning to talk.

"Ah, sensei I can't hear you..." mumbled Ino, her eyebrows knit together as she tried to get use to the feeling of having one of her senses taken away.

Iruka began to dispel the Genjutsu on Ino, his theory now proven right.

"Sakura-chan, it looks like you, my dear, are Genjutsu resistant. Congratulations," he told her warmly.

Sasuke had never been so confused. A normal Shinobi would find it extremely hard to break out of a Genjutsu unless their chakra control was very good. The Sharingan was one of the few bloodline limits that could detect and dispel Genjutsu yet here Sakura was doing so without any major training nor the Sharingan.

 ** _:and then:_**

It was mother's day in the academy. On this day children brought their mothers along with them to show off what they had learned. On this particular day spars were conducted, stall were set up and tours of the academy were given. The one thing though that confused Sasuke was why did some of the kids not bring their mothers along. It was usually the same few people every year. One of them, without a fail, was always Naruto.

He asked his mother the same thoughts that were running in his head. Her response seemed to clear it up for him.

"Sasuke not everyone has a mother," she replied quietly to him as they stood in the playground. "Some women who go out on missions don't come back. And sometimes these kunoichi are the mothers of people we know."

Sasuke stayed silent after that. Mikoto wondered if what she had said upset him as he was staring intently around the playground. The son and mother continued their walk towards the academy building. When she looked around she noticed the gleeful looks on the family's faces and everyone's interlinking hands. She clenched her fist and blamed the space between herself and her son on her weakness.

Mikoto immediately looked down when she noticed Sasuke walking to the other direction. Instead of walking to the school he was walking towards the play area. Mikoto followed him.

"Shouldn't we be going this way Sasuke?"

He ignored her and continued walking. He only stopped once he was standing in front of a boy.

Moving closer to her son, Mikoto stood beside him and peered at the boy on the swing. He jumped off it and began talking in an amiable fashion with Sasuke. The little boy was talking loudly and throwing his hands around as he illustrated his words.

Her eyes widened momentarily at what she saw. Because even though he had his father's hair and eyes, he was the embodiment of Kushina in every other way. Her heart clenched painfully as she watched on. Sasuke had not pushed off the boy's advances when he came near and was actually replying to some of the things the blonde was saying albeit in his short one word answers. But what amazed her the most was the easy way in which both communicated with each other even though Mikoto could already tell that they were polar opposites.

Then Sasuke turned to his mother and asked her the last thing on her mind. "Can Naruto come with us?"

Mikoto hesitated because she knew the implications behind taking Naruto on. Some children who had lost their mother would sometimes go with another classmate's mother, this showed that they were close and that the mother of their friend was a parent like figure in their life. Now if Mikoto were to walk around with Naruto beside her during the academy's mothers day then everyone would immediately be under the impression that she was his parent like figure. There would be rumours spreading like wild fire across Konoha and consequences that Mikoto wasn't sure was worth it.

"No no no it's okay!" Naruto waved his hands, his eyes closed as he smiled. "I'm goin' home anyways!"

"Isn't it a school day though?" And as Mikoto spoke coolly she saw the red flags around her because by God, this was such a bad, bad idea.

"Uh yeah...?" Answered Naruto. But Mikoto saw that he wasn't looking directly into her eyes.

Sasuke stepped up beside his mother and gently pulled at the sleeve of her dress. "Please?"

She was about to, just about, to turn on her heels and tell Sasuke to go in before they were late for the opening ceremony but the look in his eyes caught. Those light blue eyes were no longer smiling, rather they were staring at Sasuke in confusion as if he had never had kindness like this shown to him and of course he hadn't because this was Naruto, a disgraced child and a jinchuriki. Stupid, stupid Mikoto.

"Sasuke lets go." She said with an air of finality around her. She took his right hand into her left and stretched out her other hand to Naruto. "Let's go together, okay?"


End file.
